Go North East (GNE) marked National Apprenticeship Week (8 – 14 February), by celebrating its engineering apprentices who help keep the wheels moving on over 600 buses in its fleet. GNE employs 250 engineers, 19 of whom are engineering apprentices.
Four team members were given full-time skilled positions in September when they completed the fourth year of their apprenticeships. Around 90% of Go North East’s engineers originally started out as apprentices, including Colin Barnes, the company’s Engineering Director, who started at the company when he was 17 years old.
The company is also looking ahead to September where it plans to take on more first year apprentices, which will be part of a drive across the Go-Ahead Group to hire more than 1,100 apprentices in 2021. Colin said: “We recognise that there is a shortage of skilled engineering people and that apprenticeships are vital in recruiting top young talent.”
